


The Wolf Excerpts

by AramsayiPregius



Series: The Tsino/Tsiri/Fay Stories [8]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: Rebels
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-07
Updated: 2016-06-07
Packaged: 2018-07-12 22:50:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7126423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AramsayiPregius/pseuds/AramsayiPregius
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>These chapters outline the unpublished and published highlights from the Tsino Ke/Grand Inquisitor's own autobiographical books, which are mentioned in my Tsino/Tsiri/Fay Stories.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Preface

**Author's Note:**

> Note that the formatting of these excerpts will be different from those of my regular fics, because they are told from the Grand Inquisitor's perspective as he would have written in his journals before he published them. This does not include the preface, which gives general context to the story.

One of the first things Fay asked Tsiri about was her father’s clan origins. No one in Pau City had a record of any “Ke” clan before Tsino Ke appeared. His facial markings didn’t match those of any known Pau’an family. There was a rumor that he had gotten tattoos to change the appearance of these patches, but Tsiri was born with his exact clan markings, which flushed just like regular facial patches, thus clearly were not tattoos. Then there was the matter of his accent- it just didn’t quite fit with the dialect of any known sinkhole. He had to come from somewhere, but where? Tsino Ke never published it in his journals, and he never told Tsiri either. 

This is his story. But first, some history.

The Utapau’an windswept plains are a desolate place, but they weren’t always so. Ancient Pau’an used to dominate the planet’s surface. They moved in clans, tight knit family groups sharing a set of paternally-derived forehead markings, taking shelter during the day in domed tent structures made from animal bones and hides. At night, they came out and stalked the big game that roamed in the tall grass. They used their height as an advantage, looking out above the dense foliage, eyes with reflective retinas to pick out the shapes of moving prey in the darkness. Their hearing was superb- they could hear the low rumbling sounds of Jamel herds from miles away. Aside from the occasional predation by Utapau’an Flying Squids and Direwolves, Pau’an were the apex predators of the planet’s surface.

Then, the hyperwind storms came. Earthquakes were fairly common on the planet, and caused some of the sinkholes that would later become major cities. However, there was a massive earthquake one year that proved cataclysmic for the surface-dwelling species of the planet. The planet shifted on its axis, changing the climate drastically. Windstorms came on suddenly and killed off many of the large game animals Pau’an fed on. Their shelters were torn to shreds, and the plains left little permanent refuge for them. They were ill adapted to survive, and most of the population perished. However, a select few clans saw an opportunity to survive by invading the sinkholes inhabited by the native Utai.

The Utai made easy prey for the Pau’an, whose night vision made them formidable predators in the caves. However, the Utai were able to use their intimate knowledge of the cave systems to strike significant blows on the already depopulated Pau’an. In order to ensure their survival, the Pau’an made a truce with the Utai, and the two species learned to cooperate. After several hundreds of years, the Utai even came to revere the Pau’an for their incredibly long lifespans, measured in centuries. The Pau’an survived, but existed into the present as only 30% of Utapau’s population. Post-Empire their numbers seem to be on the rise again, though.

It was thought that all surface dwelling Pau’an had died off, but up until a couple hundred years before the Battle of Yavin, evidence of isolated groups of surface Pau’an was still being found by the Utapau Sky Force on exploratory missions far from the sinkhole cities. It was in these times that the great Tsino Ke was born.


	2. Part 1

I was born in the Spring, like most Pau’an children. My first memories were of my mother- how thin and lean her frame had been, how bony her hands had been when she scooped me up and placed me high upon her chest, where I could feel the rise and fall of her breathing. The first bed I knew was made of the grass of the high plains, flattened into a circle, with high ridges to discourage me from climbing out. I liked falling asleep there, disguised in the foliage while my clan’s adults went out hunting. They’d always return just before dawn, and usually bring with them something warm and still dripping, so that I’d have to lick my fingers and lips afterwards.

I learned early on that my father was the clan leader. He was a built man, with dark colored markings on his face that always reminded me of Dactillion snouts. Markings I would one day find on my own face, the first time I ever saw my own reflection. I loved the Dactillion, how graceful they looked when they stalked each other at play in the grass. Before I was old enough to walk with the moving clan, my father would scoop me up and let me ride in his lap atop his Dact while the clan traveled. I remember putting my hands on the back of the slender animal, and something would happen between us. I felt like the beast and I were one, only briefly, like I could see through its eyes.

Learning to speak was difficult at first. I always ended up yowling in frustration when my parents didn’t understand, and sometimes the grass would rattle like it did just before a big wind storm. Father always seemed to nod in approval. “Tsino,” he began to call me. Like a little wolf howling so hard he made the air stir. At first, I thought it was only something I could do while enraged, but I started learning to control it. Soon I was on my feet, running around between the legs of the Dacts, speaking quietly to them before the adults took them out for a hunt. They didn’t understand my tongue, but when I concentrated hard and reached out with my mind, I could make them understand my intent. 

It was strange, in a way, how the other members of the clan started to treat me. They praised me; they’d kneel down in front of me, offering the best parts of their prey before eating themselves. Even my own mother began deferring to me decisions about where the clan should roost for the day, when they should hunt, which game to pursue. I didn’t understand at first. I was too young to go out hunting, so I hid in the grass alone as I was told to. I just listened to the air and the earth and the creatures around me, and my parents were delighted at how accurate my estimations were. Every time they returned with a fresh kill, my little chest swelled with pride.

The clan prospered. New children were born. Our numbers were growing, about 60 strong. All because of me- at least, that’s what I believed. My father brought back live animals to teach me to kill on my own. At first I was startled, scared of how the crippled prey would scream and cry out, but before long they would attempt to escape, and the flopping, erratic movements were just irresistible. I felt like I had to jump onto them and end their pained existence quickly. Then the screams would end, and the pleasurable metallic tang would rush onto my tongue. Then, I could rest, my hunger satisfied. He began teaching me how to set traps, how to lure in prey, how to stalk, so that I might be able to practice while I was alone. I did, and I was good. 

By my seventh year, I was ready for the hunt, but still, I was not allowed to join. My parents could leave me for days on end while they tracked big game, and I would find means of feeding myself, taking shelter before a storm, and fending off the flying squid flocks when they came. They promised me my own Dactillion the next season, and I would fly for the first time. Then, I would be able to join them. Unfortunately, that season never came.

It was an overcast day, I remember in perfect detail. The clan had been gone for two days, and I would not expect them for at least three more. The wind was blowing from the East, an unusual occurrence, and it woke me. It kicked up sand that stung my eyes while I lay close to the earth. I needed to find better ground, and quickly, before things picked up. Then, I saw an outline against the dark sky. Not a squid, but a mounted Dact. It could only be a member of my own clan, for as far as I knew at the time, there were no others. I thought, how foolish of them, to be flying outside of the group in such an odd wind current, at such a strange time of day. But perhaps that is why they were lost and sought to return to the roosting grounds. None of the other children scattered throughout the plain stood though. None recognized this as their own parent, or else they were all still sleeping. Perhaps this was an unmated individual, who simply needed a guide back down to the ground. So, as a future clan leader, I stood.

The rider was quick to hone in on my location and spiral down, but something was… Off. His dress was strange, covering him nearly head to toe, and as vibrantly colored as a flushing male. He had large plates over his shoes, and carried with him a spear of the same glinting material. It was unlike anything I had ever seen before. He dismounted, and stood even taller than my father. He seemed nearly as shocked and curious as I was as he bent down to my level.

“Where did you come from, little one?” He asked. His voice was strange, as was his language. I could only just make out what he said. Still, it was an odd question.

“Here,” I responded. He looked puzzled, and I wasn’t sure if he understood, so I repeated myself. 

“Who did you come from?” His words sounded differently the second time.

“Here.” I said again.

He stood, and sighed in frustration, tilting his head from side to side. Only then did I notice the coverings over his ears. No wonder he couldn’t understand me.

“Who are you?” I asked. His head turned back towards me. 

He pointed to his chest. It seemed rather condescending. He started speaking slower. “Clan Rheah,” he said, before pointing to my chest. “Yours?”

I was unsure what to say. I did not know what Rheah meant. “Ke,” I said, meaning alone. My clan was out hunting, I was left alone.

The man repeated the word “Ke” over and over. “Alone, alone, alone… I’ve never heard of a Clan Alone.”

I nearly started howling just as I did when I was first learning to speak. This man was very much beginning to irritate me, but I was curious. I never knew there were other Pau’an out there. My parents had never told me there were other clans. I only knew my own. Then, he pulled out a device like I had never seen, but would later learn to call a communicator. At first I thought he was a mad man, raving on to himself, until I heard a voice come from the other side.

“This is Skyforce Operator Montay Rheah,” he said, “I was blown off course by the switch wind and I’ve found… Something you won’t believe.”

A garbled voice responded from the device. “Go ahead, Operator Rheah, what did you see?”

“A boy.” He paused briefly, flashing me his teeth. “He speaks Utapese, but I’ve never heard his dialect before. He said he was Clan Ke.”

“Clan Ke? Never heard of it.”

“Me either!” The man let out a guttural sound I had never heard before. “I don’t believe it. Just a kid. Out here. All alone. He kept saying he was from here. Here, he said! The plains!”

After a few minutes of discussion, the voice asked, “Rheah, can you bring him in?”

“Yeah yeah, of course. Poor kid’s probably abandoned anyways. Can’t imagine someone leaving a child unattended out here like this.”

Had I understood more than half of what he said, I would have been terrified. I never would have left. I likely would have tried to tear the man’s throat out, had he not had a weapon on him. He walked back over to me, and touched my shoulder. I pulled away, aghast that he, someone who was not my own blood, would dare lay a finger on me. But he pointed to his Dactillion. He bade me to come in closer. 

“There’s a storm coming soon, we should get out of here.” He said.

There was a sick feeling in my gut, but he let me touch the beast and climb up on its back. He told me that he would let me fly. And if I could fly, I reasoned, then I would be able to join the hunt. He mounted the Dact behind me, and told me to hold on tight. The animal spread its massive wings, and I felt a terrifying rush of air as they beat, the grass beneath them bowing under the force. Then, the ground became smaller and smaller as we departed from its reach. I had never felt such fear and such exhilaration at once in my entire life. 

I enjoyed my first flight immensely after that lift-off, but after a while it seemed we were not turning back towards the roost. I tried to ask the strange man if we were going to meet with the adults from the clan, but it seemed he couldn’t hear me with the wind whipping all around us. When we descended from the cloud cover, a whole new layer of fear settled on me. There was a vast hole in the earth that seemed to be bustling with activity, filled with structures and strange creature and other Pau’an all wearing the same type of clothes as this man. There were dozens of new smells coming from every direction. The sound was so intense it made me grip my ears. It only then dawned on me that I had no idea where I was or who I was with, and more importantly, I had no idea how to get home. I shook, and for the first time since my infancy, I started to cry.

That was the first time I ever laid eyes on Pau City.


End file.
